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Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 6:27:38 AM   
SeanD


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Matrix Games to bring gamers a blend of turn-based and real-time strategy from a lead designer of the Total War series!

Matrix Games and Ntronium Games (www.ntronium.com) are thrilled to announce that they have reached a publishing agreement for Armada 2526, a space-based blend of addictive turn-based strategy and intense real time space battles. Matrix Games is particularly excited to be working with founder and director of Ntronium Games, R.T. Smith. Mr. Smith has been creating strategy games for more than 20 years, including the original 4x space classic Armada 2525. Most recently he was the project director and lead designer for Medieval 2: Total War, having earlier served as designer and programmer on the previous Total War games.

To mark this announcement, be sure to check out some beautiful screenshots and a new video to see what’s in store for gamers this holiday season!

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “We’re thrilled to be working with a developer and designer who has been the creative direction behind hits like Rome: Total War and Medieval 2: Total War. We’re confident that the critical acclaim his work in the Total War series has enjoyed will translate well into outer space with Armada 2526!”

Armada 2526 continues the great tradition of space opera games. You guide your race from its first interstellar journeys, until it becomes a mighty galactic empire. Along the way, you'll explore the galaxy, conduct research, diplomacy and trade, found new colonies, maneuver mighty star fleets, and fight epic battles. Although the game is complex, and the possible strategies endless, powerful help and advisor features help you get up to speed quickly. Unlike many games in this genre, Armada 2526 boasts a streamlined play system, providing games that can be finished in a reasonable time, and emphasizes battle and strategy over economic micro-management.

Some major features include:
  • Turn-Based Strategy Map - The strategy map shows the portion of the galaxy where the game takes place. Here you'll maneuver your fleets, manage your colonies, and grow your empire. The emphasis in this part of the game is thinking and planning, so you can spend as much time as you want planning your strategies, and issuing orders. When you're done, hit the "end turn" button, and your orders will be carried out simultaneously with those of other players.
  • Epic Space Battles - Battles can be epic affairs with more than a hundred ships on each side. They are presented to the player in their full majesty via real-time 3D rendering with glowing energy beams, shimmering shields, and spectacular explosions. The action is real-time, both to enhance the visual spectacle, and to introduce elements of tension and pressure; however, the emphasis is firmly on tactics and maneuvering formations, rather than frantic clicking on individual ships, and you always have the option of pausing the battle to issue orders. Planetary assaults are especially intense with ship to ships battles, ground battles and ground to air battles all taking place simultaneously. If the attacker doesn't complete the conquest quickly enough, the battle will continue into the next turn, giving each side the chance to throw in reinforcements.
  • Diplomacy - With so many players, you need a full featured diplomatic system. In Armada 2526 you can negotiate offensive and defensive alliance, non aggression pacts and trade agreements. Trade money, technology, colonies, ships and information. You can issue threats and ultimatums, or ask for favors. Friendships can be made and trust earned, or your reputation can be ruined by bullying and not honoring agreements. Negotiations proceed by a series of offers and counter offers. Hard bargaining can drive the price down, but being generous builds friendships. During negotiations, you see an animated view of your counterpart, so you know who you are dealing with, and how they feel.
  • Technology - There are many different technology items to research. The game system encourages you to specialize in particular areas of tech, so as you expand and meet new players, you will find that they have radically different capabilities. Many of the technologies are disruptive, and force you to radically alter your strategy and tactics to utilize them, or to cope with the lack of. You may for instance concentrate on building the biggest and best navy in the galaxy, and then watch in dismay as your ships flee from and opponent who has mastered the psychic arts, or are outmaneuvered by an adversary who has specialized in stealth or hyper space technology. You may have turned your planets into fortresses, but this won't help if they are infected by nanobots that eat defenses from the inside out, or if your opponent is impolite enough to drop an asteroid on your favorite colony.
  • Powerful AI - The artificial intelligence routines have been created by an expert in the field, to provide AI players that are both worthy adversaries, and opponents that are fun to play against. The A.I. has been built into the game from the beginning of development and updated to take advantage of new game features as they are added, giving the developers the maximum time to polish its behavior. This is in contrast to many games, where the AI is tacked on at the end of development. Of course the same powerful routines developed for the opponents, are also available to assist the player in managing their empire, and to offer game play advice.
Armada 2526 will be available in time for the holiday season. Get more information from its official product page.

< Message edited by SeanD -- 10/23/2009 6:28:25 AM >


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 8:22:52 AM   
JamesM

 

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I hope this is a worthy successor to Master of Orion.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 12:46:23 PM   
Kharkov

 

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The same RT Smith who did Vulcan and Desert Rats for the Speccy?

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 1:21:12 PM   
kafka

 

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looks impressive, looking forward to it. Hopefully, it its released soon.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 1:40:12 PM   
sabre1


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Erik,

Is this similar to Sword of The Stars real time combat?

Thanks.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 1:57:55 PM   
Erik Rutins

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kharkov
The same RT Smith who did Vulcan and Desert Rats for the Speccy?


Yes, that's the same one.

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,3629/

http://www.ntronium.com/About.html


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 2:01:16 PM   
Ntronium


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Yes Kharkov, one and the same. Older, but not necessarily wiser.

I've never actually played Sword of The Stars, but I don't think the combat is similar. Armada is more about fleet combat, and you generally don't control individual ships.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 2:02:26 PM   
Erik Rutins

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: sabre1
Is this similar to Sword of The Stars real time combat?


It's more of it's own thing. The battles are 3D and real-time, with a top-down view. You manage squadrons in combat rather than individual ships and you can set them to different formations and strategies and direct them however you want (like you set formations, orientations and orders for entire regiments rather than individual men in Total War). It reminds me more of a real-time version of the MOO2 battles, crossed with Total War I guess. It's hard to really find an exact analogy.

Regards,

- Erik


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 2:05:11 PM   
Erik Rutins

 

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Welcome Bob, good to see you here.

I guess I should ask everyone here if any of you played the original Armada 2525 from the beginning of the 90s? I played the heck out of it back then and it was really my first "Master of Orion".

Regards,

- Erik

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 2:36:17 PM   
RedArgo


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I did play Armada 2525. I remember it being a good game, but I don't remember many details about it.

This must be the space game you needed beta testers for then, right?

Hopefully, this will fill the niche that MOO 3, SE5 and GC2 missed for me (not that they were bad, just didn't replace MOO2). SOS is good, but I like more empire control and it is more about war.

Looking forward to this.


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 4:39:19 PM   
ASHBERY76


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Large macro fleet based tactics would be very interesting to see ingame.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 4:47:23 PM   
solops

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

It's more of it's own thing. The battles are 3D and real-time, with a top-down view. You manage squadrons in combat rather than individual ships and you can set them to different formations and strategies and direct them however you want (like you set formations, orientations and orders for entire regiments rather than individual men in Total War). It reminds me more of a real-time version of the MOO2 battles, crossed with Total War I guess. It's hard to really find an exact analogy.

Regards,

- Erik



The thing that make space unique is that everything is three dimensional - both planning strategy and flight. I am relieved to read that the game has 3D battles. Nothing would be more disappointing than yet another 2D space game. I am NOT looking for another MOO clone. 3D battles and 3D strategy maps will be nice. One thing Sword of the Stars (great game!) did really well was the 3D strategy map. One thing Sword of the Stars did not so well was the oversimplification of economics. I hope this game has some depth in that area as welll as helpful "governors" to manage things when empires swell. I also recommend a dynamic tech tree - i.e.costs, tech availabilities and even prerequisites vary from game to game.

Yes, I played Armada 2525. Sadly, those memory cells died when I turned 50.

< Message edited by solops -- 10/23/2009 4:54:00 PM >


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/23/2009 6:41:35 PM   
Kharkov

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Ntronium

Yes Kharkov, one and the same. Older, but not necessarily wiser.

I've never actually played Sword of The Stars, but I don't think the combat is similar. Armada is more about fleet combat, and you generally don't control individual ships.




Wow

Many a happy night mispent in my youth playing Desert Rats and later Vulcan on my 48K Spectrum. For the time, they were brilliant games...no other titles came close to match the graphical level of detail. gameplay and replayability. Ok, grovelling done

Wish you every success for this and future releases!


PS Yep I'll be buying this game when it arrives solely based on your past endeavors...I know it wont disappoint.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/24/2009 7:44:55 PM   
ASHBERY76


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Hopefully someone will do an AAR report to show what the game is about.Will there be random events like space monsters appear?

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/24/2009 8:23:41 PM   
Althered

 

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Wow ! R T Smith ! Arnhem was the first ever game i played on computer and have been playing them ever since ,especially strategy (that`s why i`m here . Arnhem and the later Vulcan were amazing games and i would put both in my top 10 games of all time ! .I recently played Arnhem on a speccy emulator and it was still fun .I look forward to this game because i like space strategy games too. Welcome back Bob!
Regards
Allen.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/25/2009 7:59:46 AM   
gijas17


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I wonder how similar this is to the recent Sins of a Solar Empire? I own both the original and the expansion - Entrenchment which added defensive techs such as plantary space mines and a super space station weapon platform for defence. The diplomacy in Sins is top noch and I expect the same for Armada 2526. However, I have been looking for a space/grand strategy game that has planet surface battles as well since Imperium Galactica II Alliances was released in 2000. I can say now that my search is over. I hope this game is here before this xmas since it would be a great gift!

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/25/2009 5:26:58 PM   
elmo3

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: solops

...3D battles and 3D strategy maps will be nice...


From looking at the screen shots my impression is that it's a 2D star map for the strategic part of the game? Can Erik or Bob confirm that?

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/25/2009 5:45:03 PM   
Terminus


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Looks like a good game. Will be following this forum with interest.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/25/2009 8:39:31 PM   
ypsylon

 

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Looks like a child of "Master of Orion 1/2" and "Star Trek Birth of the Federation".

Can't wait to try it. Bring it on!

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/26/2009 5:46:10 AM   
Ntronium


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Yes the Star Map is 2D. I don't think making it 3D would really add anything to the game except making it harder to play.

In the battles, the ships can move in 3D to a limited extent, but the action is mainly limited to a single plane. The ground combat happens on the planet below the ship combat plane.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/26/2009 10:21:35 AM   
Terminus


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Sounds wise. Don't add stuff to a game just because it's wiz-bang, if it doesn't do anything.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/26/2009 1:08:41 PM   
RedArgo


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Just my opinion, but the 3-D strategic map is actually one of the things I don't like about Sword of the Stars. It gets me lost and while I suppose it may be more realistic, it doesn't make the game more fun for me. I wish there was a way to turn it off and flatten the map. I think Stellar Crusade had the same thing (with the Z axis) and I just don't think it adds much to the game.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/26/2009 1:46:55 PM   
Terminus


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Agreed.

One of the things I'm really looking forward to in this game is the ability to drop asteroids on enemy colonies. Appeals to the supervillain in me...

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/27/2009 11:34:17 PM   
Wade1000


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I'm interested. Please don't stop testing it too early.

The human picture looks a little silly, as does the smile of the three eyed alien. I guess I like more seriousness in these types of games. Jokes in Galactic Civilizations 2 were annoying(as was it's awful, though applauded by some, external ship design).

I hope there are alot of "high" technologies like destroying and creating planets and stars; terraforming; gigantic planet sized stations, maybe even Halos/Orbitals, Ringworlds, and Sphereworlds. I'd be disapointed if the major planet hitter was only an asteroid weapon. That seems kind of backwards for "high" technology civilizations portrayed in much science fiction.

Please make it impressive and FUN; little bugs and all features working as intended from the release. Don't have it die at release. Though, I hope that you can have it released in the holiday season in good working order and that it is a financial success.

So far I want it. I hope it fills those aspects of science fiction technological advancement.

Thankyou.

< Message edited by Wade1000 -- 10/29/2009 11:41:58 PM >


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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/28/2009 2:20:11 AM   
SeanD


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quote:

Don't have it die at release.


I can assure you that Ntronium games has no intention whatsoever of stopping development with the initial release. Except stellar (sorry for the lame pun) support for this product.

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RE: Matrix Games To Publish Armada 2526! - 10/29/2009 11:33:35 PM   
Iceman

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Wade1000
The human picture looks a little silly, as does the smile of the three eyed alien. I guess I like more seriousness in these types of games. Jokes in Galactic Civilizations 2 were annoing(as was it's awful, though applauded by some, external ship design).


Couldn't agree more about GC2. The human does look like an action man or something, and the AROM is also weird. If you think the Teyes are silly, wait till you see the Walden :D

quote:

I hope there are alot of "high" technologies like destroying and creating planets and stars; terraforming; gigantic planet sized stations, maybe even Halos/Orbitals, Ringworlds, and Sphereworlds. I'd be disapointed if the major planet hitter was only an asteroid weapon. That seems kind of backwards for "high" technology civilizations portrayed in much science fiction.


The game is mainly about ships, and tactical and strategical aspects. There are some impressive ships, built from impressive materials ;)
There's some "magic" too. Hehe.

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